Most local authority adult learning programmes do not do A-Levels. Some local Further Education college’s do A-Levels for adults, but only on a full time attendance basis. Some local Further Education colleges’ may do home learning programmes and if they do, they are probably the best to go with as they are local to the student and therefore more accountable, (ie, you can walk in and complain to the principle if your course is not being delivered as you were promised). Also, Further Education colleges’ are usually registered exam centres.

All the home/distance learning providers that I have researched are not registered exam centres, and I could not find a single one that was. This means that when it comes to exams you have to find your own local exam centre which is impossible to do, because exam centres are either schools or colleges and will not register candidates from outside their own organisation for exams.

Also, the home/distance learning providers promise you a full course, tutor, back up, etc, but most do not deliver on this and all of them cannot register you for exams. There is no official body that monitors home learning providers and therefore they are not checked for performance by organisations such as OFSTED, and therefore there are no statistics to show how well students do with them, or, if they even finish the courses they have paid for.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear, but this is the unfortunate state of adult education and home learning in the UK today. Most of it is a rip off, so be careful you don’t get ripped off!

Alternatively: The Open University has a very good reputation for delivering courses, student support and exam registering. However, they do not do A-Levels and are very expensive. But if you can afford it, an option might be to go straight to a Open University course instead of A-Level. They also have various starter courses which will build you up to University level without going through A-Level.

Hope this information helps.